Bacterial resistant chair

ABSTRACT

A chair for particular use in clinical or hospital environments has a frame to which a support material is secured. The support material may form a chair back and/or a seat for the chair to provide support to the chair occupant. The support material may be made from a textile of interwoven strands wherein some of the interwoven strands include copper containing particles such as copper iodide or copper oxide within the textile fibers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of US patent application Ser. No.15/855762 filed 27 Dec. 2017, now US Pat. No. 10,986,938, which claimspriority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/439299,filed 27 Dec. 2016, the contents of which are herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to chairs and in particular to chairs usedin clinical environments and the like where the surfaces of the chairmay be exposed to unsanitary conditions.

BACKGROUND

Clinical areas, hospitals, health centers and the like, require the useof cleaners to reduce the amount of bacteria and other microbes thatcollect on surfaces. Because of this, fabrics used on furniture, such aschairs, generally need to be sturdy and sufficiently robust to withstandmultiple harsh cleaning cycles. Unfortunately, suitable fabrics such asvinyl, hard plastics, etc. tend to be less breathable and therefore lesscomfortable.

What is required is an improved fabric for use in chairs and similarfurniture that can withstand the harsh clinical environment.

SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Advantages of One or MoreEmbodiments of the Present Invention

The various embodiments of the present invention may, but do notnecessarily, achieve one or more of the following advantages:

provide a chair with improved cleanable surfaces;

provide a chair for use in clinical environments that can withstandharsh cleaning; and

provide a chair for use in clinical environments that has a breathablefabric.

These and other advantages may be realized by reference to the remainingportions of the specification, claims, and abstract.

Brief Description of One Embodiment of the Present Invention

In one aspect, there is provided a chair. The chair may have a framethat supports a fabric. The fabric provides a support for an occupant ofthe chair. The fabric may comprise a mesh. The mesh may be comprised ofstrands, fibers, threads etc. The strands may include one or morestrands that include a copper infusion.

In one aspect, there is provided a chair. The chair may have a framethat supports a fabric. The fabric provides a support for an occupant ofthe chair. The fabric may comprise a mesh. The mesh may be comprised ofstrands, fibers, threads etc. The strands may include copper containingparticles within the strands.

In one aspect, there is provided a chair for particular use in clinicalor hospital environments. The chair has a frame to which a supportmaterial is secured. The support material may form a chair back and/or aseat for the chair to provide support to the chair occupant. The supportmaterial may be made from a textile that includes copper containingparticles such as copper iodide or copper oxide within the textilefibers.

The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of oneembodiment of the present invention so that the detailed descriptionthat follows may be better understood and contributions of the presentinvention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodimentsof the present invention may not include all of the features orcharacteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described below andwill form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, beforeexplaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of the construction and to the arrangement ofthe components set forth in the following description. The invention iscapable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein are for the purpose of description andshould not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 substantially depicts a swivel chair incorporating a copper fibermesh portion in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 substantially depicts a second embodiment of a chairincorporating a copper fiber mesh portion.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized andstructural changes may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

The present invention, as described herein, includes a chair in whichthe support fabric is a mesh. Mesh fabrics are rarely used in clinicalor hospital environments. The problem with mesh is that it is made ofmaterials that are woven together or intertwined and stretched acrossthe back, and, this material breaks down when cleaned with strongcleaners like bleach.

In the present application, the mesh that is typically used in a meshchair is replaced with a mesh including copper infused strands. Thestrands may be, for example, a polymer, nylon or similar type materialto which a copper compound such as cuprous oxide, cuprous iodide etc. isadded prior to the material being drawn into fibers or strands. In oneparticular embodiment, the strands are drawn from a polymer in whichcuprous iodide particles are dispersed. The cuprous iodide particles mayhave a size generally between about 0.50 and about 2.0 microns and aredispersed within the polymer to produce a resultant fiber having apercentage weight of approximately 4% cuprous iodide.

The copper infusion has been demonstrated to improve the antibacterialand/or antiviral properties of the material.

Chairs manufactured using copper infused fibers as the mesh materialhave been tested by the present inventors and shown to be as good orbetter at reducing the colony count of bacteria as other bacteriareducing fabrics. Without the copper infusion, normal mesh growsbacteria at a rate that is far higher and one that would not beacceptable for hospitals because it can't be cleaned by a high enoughconcentration of bleach without compromising the mesh to the point itwill fail in the chair.

Thus, the mesh chairs as described herein can be used in hospitals andsimilar clinical environments in a way that they could not before. Manypeople prefer mesh to vinyl covered foam, hard plastics, etc because itis comfortable, breathable, and slim line.

The present invention comprises a chair. The chair includes a frame overwhich is applied a mesh fabric that includes a copper infusion asdescribed herein. The frame may be plastic, metal, or any suitablesturdy material. In one embodiment, the mesh has weft yarns with 1200polyester and warp yarns 2300 denier. The base material of the mesh maybe polyester or polyester copolymer. The mesh material may be chosen dohave a degree a elasticity and/or resilience to make it suitable andcomfortable as a chair support material. The mesh material may be usedas the seat support and/or as a backing support to support the occupantin the chair. The mesh may be secured to the frame using any suitabletechnology known in the art, including sleeves, stitching, fasteners(rivets, screws, pins, staples, etc.) and the like.

A first embodiment of a chair is shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment,the chair 10 is a swivel chair and includes a base 12 having a pluralityof legs 14 extending radially outward from a center. At the end of eachleg 14 is a wheel, roller or coaster 16. The middle of the base 12supports a telescopic stem 18 attached to a chair frame 20. Thetelescopic stem 18 may utilize a gas strut to raise and lower the heightof the chair frame as is known. The chair frame 20 supports a seat 22,arm rests 24, and a chair back 26. The chair back 26 has a chair backframe 28 that forms a perimeter of the chair back 26. Stretched acrossthe chair back frame 28 is a mesh 29 made from the copper infusedfabric. The mesh 29 provides the support material for the chair back 26.The mesh 29 may be secured to the chair back frame 28 by any suitablemeans including clips, staples, stitches, welding, adhesives, etc. InFIG. 1, the seat 22 is an upholstered padded seat, covered with aclinical textile such as a coated vinyl, of which Silvertex is oneexample. Other forms for the seat 22 will be apparent to the personskilled in the art.

A second embodiment of a chair is shown in FIG. 2. The chair 30 of thisembodiment may include a framework that provides chair legs 32, a chairframe 34 and a chair back frame 36. The copper infused textile fabricmay be provided across one or both of the chair frame 34 or chair backframe 36 to provide a support material to support the weight of a chairoccupant. In the particular embodiment of FIG. 2, the mesh material isprovided as a chair back support material 38 and is secured to the chairback frame 36 by suitable means as described above. The seat 40 is asection of concave plastic shaped for occupant comfort and is providedbetween left and right portions of the chair frame 34. In alternativeembodiments, the seat 40 may be formed of mesh, padded textiles, orother suitable materials.

Although the description above contains many specifications, theseshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but asmerely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of thisinvention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by theappended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examplesgiven.

What is claimed is:
 1. A chair comprising: (A) a frame; and (B) asupport material that is supported by the frame and that provides asupport for an occupant of the chair; wherein the support materialcomprises a mesh having a plurality of interwoven strands, wherein theplurality of interwoven strands comprise one or more interwoven strandsthat include copper containing particles having a size between 0.50 andabout 2.0 microns.
 2. The chair of claim 1 wherein the support comprisesa chair back.
 3. The chair of claim 2 wherein the chair back comprises achair back frame that provides a perimeter and wherein the mesh isapplied across the chair back frame.
 4. The chair of claim 1 wherein thecopper containing particles comprises copper iodide.
 5. The chair ofclaim 1 wherein the copper containing particles comprises copper oxide.6. The chair of claim 1 wherein the mesh material is at least partiallyelastic.
 7. The chair of claim 1 wherein the copper containing particlesare dispersed within the respective strand to produce a resultant fiberhaving a percentage weight of approximately 4% copper containingparticles.
 8. The chair of claim 1 wherein the chair is a swivel chaircomprising a base having a plurality of legs extending radially outwardfrom a center.